A new round of comments from Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko has revealed Pentagon waste was even more staggering than previously imagined, with billions likely spent on war materiel that was not only never used, but never even sent to Afghanistan.
We see “likely” not so much because there’s a serious doubt, but because the Pentagon simply didn’t keep records of a lot of what they bought, so its difficult to prove which war or other adventure it was wasted on.
“It’s like you gave your credit card to your teenage daughter or son and then you just never looked at the bills,” noted Sopko, details some of the most inexplicable wastes, including $3 million spent on inflatable boats which were never even sent to landlocked Afghanistan. The boats, Sopko said, are likely to be scrapped or sold for pennies on the dollar.
The Pentagon defended the never-used boats, insisting they seemed like a good idea at the time of their purchase, and that the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) allowed them to do whatever they want with the boats. They went on touting their unspecified “positive” impact on Afghanistan.
But the boats aren’t unique, as Sopko detailed myriad other examples, including $600 million worth of C-27 aircraft that have never been used, and a $34 million command center in Helmand Province that is “the best constructed building I’ve seen in Afghanistan,” but will probably be torn down soon because the Afghans can’t use it.
where's the outrage – are we that tired, lacking in faith and/ or numbed ?
I'm willing to go out on a limb and predict that no one will go to jail for this – and probably won't even lose their jobs…or pensions.
On Sept 10, 2001, Donald Rumsfeld announced $2.3 trillion dollars had gone missing from the Pentagon's bank accounts. Somewhat conveniently, the Pentagon offices where the investigators and evidence were gathered were destroyed the next day, Sept. 11, 2001. Thirteen years later, some estimates are that more than $8 trillion has disappeared, and still no accurate accounting system has been put in place to monitor where the money went or is going. Every war produces staggering waste, and opportunities for a few to pocket millions or billions of taxpayer dollars. That's why the global so called elite are so very fond of war.
And the homele$$ are more $o, every day, in our own home turf.
The reported losses are small compared to the real amount of money wasted and stolen. we'll never know just how much money those in power pissed off and stole. The money served its purpose, the rich got richer and that's what it's all about. Not to worry, the brain trust we call Congress, will pull money from social security, HUD, education, labor, all those programs designed to help the american people. The DoD will never feel the loss, because that's why the USA stages these wars, it helps those in power and the wealthy. Mission Accomplished!